Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. Has $5.02 Million Stock Position in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. lifted its position in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 2.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,253 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 684 shares during the quarter. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $5,020,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Kennon Green & Company LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hershey by 33.3% in the first quarter. Kennon Green & Company LLC now owns 43,146 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,379,000 after buying an additional 10,784 shares during the last quarter. William Allan Corp lifted its stake in shares of Hershey by 173.1% in the first quarter. William Allan Corp now owns 18,593 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,180,000 after buying an additional 11,785 shares during the last quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Hershey by 9.5% in the first quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 31,925 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,460,000 after buying an additional 2,757 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Hershey by 8.1% in the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 18,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,186,000 after buying an additional 1,390 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey in the first quarter worth $55,269,000. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on HSY shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Hershey from $154.00 to $157.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Hershey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Hershey from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Hershey from $160.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Hershey from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Hershey has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $174.05.

Hershey Stock Up 0.1%

HSY opened at $189.00 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $185.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $172.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.53. Hershey Company has a twelve month low of $140.13 and a twelve month high of $208.03. The firm has a market cap of $38.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.10, a PEG ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 0.26.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $2.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. Hershey had a net margin of 13.54% and a return on equity of 37.36%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 26.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.27 EPS. Hershey has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.809-5.997 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Hershey Company will post 6.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were given a dividend of $1.37 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is 72.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total transaction of $900,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 61,319 shares in the company, valued at $11,037,420. This represents a 7.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Rohit Grover sold 1,334 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total transaction of $240,120.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 38,068 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,852,240. This trade represents a 3.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 65,704 shares of company stock worth $12,206,910 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

About Hershey

The Hershey Company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of confectionery products and pantry items in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: North America Confectionery, North America Salty Snacks, and International. It offers chocolate and non-chocolate confectionery products; gum and mint refreshment products, including mints, chewing gums, and bubble gums; protein bars; pantry items, such as baking ingredients, toppings, beverages, and sundae syrups; and snack items comprising spreads, bars, snack bites, mixes, popcorn, and pretzels.